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Posted on 04/22/2015 3:49:24 PM PDT by FlJoePa
Happy birthday, Glen Campbell! The singer was born on this day, April 22, in 1936.
Campbell was born the seventh of 12 children to John Campbell, a sharecropper, and his wife Carrie. After his uncle, known as “Boo,” taught Campbell to play the guitar as a child, the future star relocated to Albuquerque, N.M., as a teenager, to play in his uncle’s band. In 1958, Campbell formed his own band, the Western Wranglers, and in 1960, he relocated to Los Angeles to become a session musician.
Campbell’s debut album, Big Bluegrass Special, was released in 1962 on Capitol Records, but it only produced one hit, “Kentucky Means Paradise,” which peaked at No. 20. Campbell didn’t earn another Top 20 hit until “Burning Bridges,” which was the title track of his fifth studio album, was released in 1966.
Not that Campbell was working solely on his solo projects during this time: He also sang with the Beach Boys, filling in for an ailing Brian Wilson from the end of 1964 until the spring of 1965.
The tunesmith earned his first No. 1 album with Gentle on My Mind, released in 1967. His following record, By the Time I Get to Phoenix, gave Campbell his first No. 1 hit; its title track earned the top spot on the Canadian country charts and peaked at No. 2 on the U.S. country charts. The success kicked off a series of hits for Campbell, including “Wichita Lineman,” “Galveston,” “Rhinestone Cowboy” and “Southern Nights.” To date, Campbell has earned nine No. 1 hits and sold more than 45 million albums.
The seasoned performer also enjoyed a successful career in TV as well. After starring on the syndicated TV show Star Route, Campbell developed a knack for appearing in front of the camera. He hosted a TV variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, which ran from 1969 to 1972 on CBS, and also appeared in several movies and TV shows, including True Grit, Norwood, Any Which Way You Can and Uphill All the Way.
Campbell continued performing and recording until he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2011.
“I just take it as it comes,” Campbell says of the illness. “I know that I have a problem with that, but it doesn’t bother me. If you’re going to have it handed to you, you have got to take it, anyway. So that is the way I look at it.”
Campbell embarked on a Goodbye Tour following the diagnosis; his final show was on Nov. 30, 2012. In 2014, he was moved into a residential care facility when his wife Kim said that it was difficult to continue caring for him at home.
A documentary, Glen Campbell … I’ll Be Me, was released in September of 2014. The film, which won the prestigious Gibson Music City / Music City Films Grand Jury Prize at the Nashville Film Festival, also had an accompanying five-song EP, followed by a full album in early 2015. One of the songs, “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” which Campbell co-wrote and performed, won a 2015 Grammy Award for Best Country Song.
Campbell was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In 2012, he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Happy Birthday Glen. Thanks for OUTSTANDING music. (thanks to all linkers for the tunes)
And, back in 1969, when I disparaged his acting in TRUE GRIT, my then girlfriend dropped me like a hot rock!
She thought HE hung the moon!
My dad and I used to go past his parents little house on our way fishing every weekend, right when he got famous.
I have a “very best” CD with a dozen of his hits. I play it often. Like Elvis, he didn’t just sing lyrics, but felt the emotion of the character in the song. You can hear the sorrow, regret and longing in ‘Galveston’, ‘Wichita Lineman’, and ‘By the Time I Get to Phoenix’.
Love ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’ and ‘Southern Nights’ too.
There’s a Campbell restaurant in Murfreesboro, about a mile from the courthouse.
Whenever we would watch TRUE GRIT, you would have to drink every time someone said the name, “Tom Chaney.” Guess we watched it so often, it made it a little more interesting. Silly, now that I think about it. [But fun!]
SWEET!!!
Too bad about the long goodbye but, we all gotta go...
I wonder, having been through a bit of it, if it’s harder on the family....
Happy Birthday Glenn! Whenever I hear his songs I hear Galveston or Lineman, I hear AMERICA, the land of the free and the brave.
Gentle On My Mind was unusual in that there were very few rhymed verses, but few people noted or remarked on that.
“Gentle On My Mind.’’ One of the greatest songs ever written. It speaks of a time and place, of an America that vanished.
Happy birthday to Mr. Campbell.
My friend was there for one of his final concerts. He told me Glen’s final song in that concert was a tribute to his personal faith:
THE SAVIOR I SING OF TODAY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh_NJV2ESW0
That’s an unusual topic for a popular song, but it has one of the best lines ever.
“I need you, more than want you, and I need you for all time.”
Country is becoming pop.
But long live Bluegrass.
And long live the memory of Glenn Campbell, and his contributions to both, when Country was real.
Glen, you’re one of the absolute greats... I grew up hearing your music and had a real appreciation for it. Happy Birthday!
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